


the holiest angel

by jjhs



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Author Is Not Religious, Domestic Fluff, Fallen Angels, Fluff, Guardian Angels, Heaven & Hell, Heavy Angst, M/M, Religious Imagery & Symbolism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:41:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23888371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jjhs/pseuds/jjhs
Summary: mark lee never expected to cross paths with an injured guardian angel. he never expected to take him home and let him build a life there. and, he certainly never expected God to come seeking what is rightfully his.or, mark lee and na jaemin are fallen angels who come across an injured guardian angel, never revealing his true identity as amnesia takes his memory. and, they learn the hard way that heavenly bodies cannot be kept from their heavenly home.
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Mark Lee/Na Jaemin
Comments: 12
Kudos: 41





	the holiest angel

**Author's Note:**

> hehehe hi
> 
> this is a fic celebrating 100+ subs, 4000+ kudos, and 900+ followers on twitter. it’s been a long two years full of wanting to give up and great accomplishments. this is a gift from me to you. thank you so much for the love and support.
> 
> this is also a gift from me to myself for working so hard even during the times i wanted to give up. writing is hard. 
> 
> this fic is self indulgent in many ways and i felt that i earned it just this once.
> 
> hope you enjoy,
> 
> liv

“I will hallucinate your halos, your holiness.”  
— Meena Kandasamy, _Mrs. Sunshine_

truth be told, mark has forgotten what heaven looks like and even what its presence felt like. sure, he’s been around angels since he fell from heaven. he’s met them, touched them, laughed with them. but, it’s been four hundred years since he fell from heaven and nearly three hundred since he’s been in the presence of a heavenly body that is wholly loyal to the said heaven they reside in. most angels he meets aren’t so fond of the house in the sky and rightfully so.  


so, when he notices the body laying in a heap in the woods outside his home, he doesn’t realize the status they hold. their white clothing is ripped to shreds and covered in blood. blood doesn’t phase mark at this point in his life. he is nearing two thousand years old. in his long lifetime, there is no room to be squeamish about blood.

mark is curious, as most people would be, so he squats down next to the body. he may be a fallen angel, but the only thing he’s really lost after leaving heaven was his halo and white wings. his super hearing is still in amazing condition, allowing him to recognize the noise of shallow breathing. whatever this is, whoever this is, is alive.  
mark purses his lips. he can either choose to leave this person here or take them back to the house. he weighs the pros and cons.

pros:

cons: walking with a potentially heavy body on top of the wood he’s collected  
the option shouldn’t be hard, considering all the reasons mark got kicked from heaven, but he can’t help the way he naturally gravitates towards them. something about the person on the ground glows and shimmers, and mark wants to get lost in it.  


mark carefully rolls the person onto their back. he gasps aloud, not expecting it.

oh Lord.

it’s an angel. an angel with their halo intact, face pale and a bit bruised but very, very pretty. an angel with a gash on their forehead.

mark is shocked to say the least. what was an angel doing all the way out here in the outskirts of the void? angels have very strict rules.

you can only travel between heaven and earth. no pit stops in the void, or God forbid, hell.

again, a reason mark was thrown out. mark just wasn’t one for rules and rules are taken far too seriously up in the sky.

“alright,” mark murmurs. he drops the wood in his right arm onto the ground next to him and carefully places his forearms under the angel’s neck and knees.

mark isn’t sure what he was expecting. maybe a shock of electricity because a fallen is touching an angel without their permission. maybe for heaven to strike down on him. but, none of that happens and he stands up.

the angel is light, which is to be expected, but too light in mark’s opinion. angels are heavenly beings, so they don’t weigh much to begin with. but, mark has never met an angel this light.  


the trek home is an easy and quick mile and a half. the glass back door is slid open, jaemin standing in the kitchen cooking. mark smiles to himself.

two fallens together, in love, living in complete peace. it is a rare, rare occurrence and mark is grateful he got the chance. especially after everything that happened.

he walks inside the house, stepping on the hardwood floors with his boots still on and jaemin’s head snaps over. his eyes slide down from mark’s face to the body in his arms. he tenses.

“an angel,” jaemin breathes out, “you’re holding an angel, mark.”

“i know,” mark whispers, “he’s hurt.”

jaemin has always been good with stitching people up. he’d been doing it ever since he arrived in heaven. heavens know how many times jaemin’s patched mark back up.

“okay, lay him on the couch,” jaemin sighs, grabbing his first aid kit and other medical items from under the sink. he meets mark at the couch in the living room of their small cabin.

“he’s breathing, barely,” mark mentions as jaemin sits down next to him on the hardwood floor.  


jaemin observes the wounds. nothing fatal from what jaemin can see. there’s a few scratches on his chest and abdomen, pale skin highlighted by the marks. the worst wound is the one on his forehead, a huge gash on the right side of their temple.

“can you help him?” mark asks, a tinge of concern in his voice. jaemin raises his eyebrows at the other fallen angel.

“where’d you find him? do you know him?”

mark shakes his head. “found him about a mile and a half out while collecting wood to build the guest room. i’ve never seen him before in my life.”

“fine,” jaemin just sighs. “while i put him back together, check his halo.” jaemin fell from heaven about two hundred years ago. he and mark had a relationship while they both lived up in the sky and it continued while mark found his way in the void, up until jaemin got in trouble with the Head Angels and was forced to choose.

now he lives in the void. but, technology of the heavens rarely changes. Head Angels aren’t keen on changing, even while the human world continues to do so. 

“he was a guardian angel,” mark notices by the color of the choker on the angel’s neck. all halos are worn as chokers unless being casted above the head where they glowed. angels rarely casted their halos above head unless in heaven or hell. it was rather unsafe to do so anywhere else.

only guardian angels wear silver chokers. most guardian angels live on earth among the humans to watch over their charge.

Head Angels wear gold chokers and novice angels in bronze, both stuck back in heaven. there are other colors and classifications that mark never cared to learn. he was a guardian angel and that was all he needed to know. 

mark touches his neck, fingers absentmindedly grazing the skin in search of his own choker.  
chokers are engraved with initials and age. mark carefully pulls the choker off of the angel. like wings, halos were sacred and touching them without permission is a sign of disrespect. but, mark is a fallen and there are no repercussions for him.

he holds it in his hand and examines it. 

engraved onto the delicate jewelry: _ljn ⭒ 300 years_

“oh, jaem,” mark mumbles, eyes looking to jaemin in slight confusion, “he’s only 300. he’s young.”

jaemin stops his stitching to look at mark with wide eyes. he was still a novice angel in most eyes. novice angels studied the professions and jobs until they reached 500 years of age, and then, and only then, were they given the chance to prove themselves and take a job on their own. novice angels are never, ever guardian angels. they never watch over charges alone. they’re not allowed to travel alone between heaven and earth, let alone venture into the void.

“what the hell was he doing all the way out here? and, how the fuck is he a guardian angel?”

mark can only shrug, not knowing the answer to either question. whoever this angel is, he’s either God’s only exception or he’s breaking a fuck ton of rules. either way, mark is sure that heaven is looking for this angel. but, out in the void, tracking devices don’t work. it’s often why angels and demons alike come to mingle in the bars. 

angel and demon interaction was strictly forbidden in both heaven and hell. it has always been this way, ever since lucifer fell from heaven and hell was created. any angel caught involved with a demon or fallen face punishment, anywhere from suspension of duties to being thrown from heaven all together. mark doesn’t know what happens to demons who get in trouble.

it seems that demons don’t face many repercussions, but mark has never interacted with one long enough to find out purely out of fear of them. though, fallens are neutral territory for demons.

in the void, he and jaemin live on the outskirts of one of the many fallen cities, where streets are occupied by fallens and fallens only. demons choose not to mess with fallen cities, purely because nobody wants to start shit with void. nobody wants to fight a war.

dawngrave was a popular destination for new fallens. “do you think he was running away from something?” mark asks, finally setting the halo down on the coffee table in front of him. jaemin can only shrug his shoulders as an answer.

“i’m done,” jaemin announces. the angel looks fine, like he’s been patched up the best he can in the home of two fallens. 

“is he going to wake up?” mark questions, settling down next to jaemin on the floor. he rubs the material of the angel’s shirt between his thumb and forefinger. 

“probably,” jaemin shrugs. “i’m not too worried about it. his wounds are really only a couple hours old and the bleeding stopped. i don’t know what’s happening internally, but there were no intrusions or anything. i think he’ll be fine.”

mark sighs, maybe out of relief, maybe out of exhaustion. even he doesn’t know. “should we let him rest here or put him in the guest room?”

jaemin snorts. “the guest room we don’t have because you haven’t finished building it yet even after four hundred years?”

mark rolls his eyes. “time runs together after you’ve been alive for two hundred.”

“yeah, yeah.” jaemin purses his lips. “he’ll be fine here. we can monitor him here.”

“i just wanna know,” mark sighs, “i just want to know what happened to him. why he’s all the way out here. how he ended up here.”

“maybe when he wakes up he can tell us,” jaemin rubs his temples. “let’s eat dinner. i’ve been making it all day.”

mark nods and let’s jaemin lead him to the dining room. he collapses his chair at the table and jaemin brings the food to him. he kisses the younger fallen on the cheek to show his gratitude.  
when jaemin finally sits down, the mood is still tense. 

“we need to send him back to heaven,” jaemin mutters between bites. “he can’t stay here. he belongs to God.”

“jaemin, he was here for a reason. maybe he was running away, maybe he was meeting someone, maybe he doesn’t want to be an angel anymore. we don’t know. we can’t just send him back!”

“he has a better chance of healing properly back in the sky. and, we can’t...we can’t risk the chance of someone finding us with him. one bystander with the wrong idea can lead to our expulsion to hell. you know the rules!”

while angels are ruled by the law of God, the void is ruled by nakamoto yuta who also has strict rules. they’re fallen angels, but they’re far, far from being demons and yuta likes to keep it that way. most fallens remain in the void, but some fall all the way to hell and they become johnny seo’s. 

fallens can interact and even date angels in secrecy, that much yuta doesn’t care about. but, fallens can’t house injured angel’s. they can’t keep them without their consent. any time an angel washes up in the void, fallens are required to report it and let them return to heaven. it is a deal yuta has made with God.

“jae, i can’t just. we can’t just return him. i just feel like...like there is more to this than just him injuring a wing and falling to the void. it’s not a coincidence.” 

“this angel, _ljn_ , he is God’s only exception. his halo shows so. we can’t keep him from the heavens.”

“let’s just...just wait until he wakes up, okay? we can ask him some questions and then we’ll take him to sicheng.”

dong sicheng is the unofficial leader of dawngrave. all fallens in the city respect him, look up to him, and go to him for help. 

“we are going to get so much shit for this,” jaemin grumbles. on cue, the front door busts open and in comes donghyuck. “oh, great, our friend who happens to be seeing a fucking angel! wonderful!”

“honey, i’m home!” hyuck calls out as he saunters his way into their wooden cabin. “uhm, are you guys aware you have an angel laying on your couch?”

mark groans and gets up from the table. he meets donghyuck at the edge of the room. the angel hasn’t moved since the last time mark checked on him.

“he looks like he’s been banged up pretty bad,” hyuck comments, eyes wandering over the body. “what happened to him?”

“i dunno, found him in the woods just lying there.” mark sighs and jaemin walks into the room. the younger walks over to the angel and presses a hand to his forehead.

“mark wants to keep him here,” jaemin looks at hyuck with an exasperated look on his face from where he stands next to the angel on the couch. he’s hoping the fallen will take his side, but hyuck just shrugs.

“well, that’s not surprising considering everything. a lot of angels are running, you know. leaving heaven. jun has been camped out here for awhile.” hyuck walks toward the coffee table and snatches the halo off of it. “heaven’s getting bad, from what renjun’s told me.”

“how can heaven possibly be bad?” jaemin whines. being so far out from the main parts of dawngrave, they rarely hear gossip.

“controlling, corrupt, i don’t really know.” hyuck looks at the halo and then at jeno’s neck. “can we put it on him? i haven’t seen an angel’s halo in real life in so long.”

“that seems wrong…” jaemin mumbles. he is still an angel at heart. 

“don’t tell me you aren’t curious to see if it still glows,” mark rolls his eyes. 

“i am,” jaemin huffs, “but we don’t even have the power to activate it. only angels can, remember?”

“awe damn it, i forgot i’m not an angel anymore,” hyuck grumbles. “fine. when he wakes up maybe we can coax him to put it on.”

“when he wakes up, you won’t be here,” mark corects, “because you’ll be at home. where you live. where you can go uninvited.”

“no! you can’t kick me out when you have a whole angel in your house!” donghyuck stomps his foot and mark just ignores him as usual.

“bye, donghyuck. tell renjun we say hi.” mark begins to push hyuck toward the front door. “also, can we count on you to keep this to yourself?”

hyuck pouts. “wow, best friends for hundreds of years and you still have the audacity to ask me that. of course, mark. i got kicked out of heaven for not telling the truth.”

mark just laughs. “alright, go, now. bye!” mark slams the door and locks it, though it wouldn’t do them much good because donghyuck had a key anyway.

when he walks back over to jaemin, the younger is running his fingers over the halo, still fascinated by the heavenly device. 

mark’s tired and ready to sleep. “i’m going to bed. you coming?

jaemin nods his head, fingers tracing over the letters engraved onto the halo. “who is this angel, mark?”

and, mark can only swallow. “only time will tell. let’s go to sleep, baby.”

jaemin debates whether or not to take the halo with him. he doesn’t want the angel to wake up in a foreign place without it. but, on the opposite side, it could bring trouble to all of them if the halo was somehow tracked back here. it’s better to put it away.

he brings the halo with him for safety, letting his head fall onto mark’s shoulder as the older wraps his arm around jaemin’s waist. mark twists his neck and kisses jaemin on his forehead.  
“everything will be alright,” mark murmurs into his skin. 

“i hope so.”

◯

when mark wakes up the next morning, jaemin is still sleeping peacefully next to him. he sighs, touching the younger’s chest just to feel his skin on his fingertips. jaemin is real. everything is real and fine. at least, that’s what he wants to believe.

he scoots closer to jaemin’s warm body and cuddles into his side. nothing about this is fine. they have an angel still knocked unconscious on their couch. it’s too dangerous to just leave him be. jaemin is right. they have to return him to his heavenly home.

he’s half asleep when he hears a scream in the other room. his eyes shoot open and he’s pushed off of jaemin’s chest as the younger bolts up. 

“you heard that too right?” and, like a movie script, another scream. they make eye contact before leaving their bed and running to the living room in a record time.

as they round out to the couch, there is a boy standing there, legs wobbly, and eyes wide with fear.

“where am i? what is going on?” his voice is so, so pretty. he is so pretty.

jaemin swallows and looks to mark for guidance. 

“hi, i’m mark. this is jaemin. uhm, we are your friends,” mark tries weakly. he doesn’t think it will work, but, he watches as the boy in front of him calms, muscles relaxing just a bit.

“...friends?” the angel seems to believe mark somewhat. “w-what am i doing here? and why am i hurt? where am i? what’s going on?”

“yes, friends. you’re in the void,” mark murmurs, afraid to see the angel’s reaction.

“void?” the angel questions, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “what’s the void?”

mark and jaemin look at each other again. mark swallows. “uhm. i need to speak with jaemin very quickly, alone, in private. but, don’t worry. we’ll be back in, like, two seconds.” the older grabs jaemin’s wrist and pulls him to the kitchen.

“he doesn’t know the void? something’s not right,” mark whisper screams, panic clear as day.

“i don’t know! maybe...maybe that fall caused him to lose his memory? i...i don’t know? what do we do?”

“what hyuck does best,” mark grins, “lie.”

jaemin looks like he wants to protest, but mark drags him back to the angel before he can get a  
word out.

the angel is still standing there, looking like a deer in the headlights.

“okay,” mark murmurs in hopes of keeping the angel calm, “do you remember anything?”

“uhm...m-my name? i think? jeno…” he bites his lip, “yeah. i think it’s jeno.”

mark plays along. “yes, jeno is right! anything else?”

the angel, jeno, shakes his head and frowns. 

“alright, that’s okay. you should sit, you have a gnarly cut on your head.” mark gestures to the couch and jeno hesitantly plops down.

mark sits next to him cautiously and jaemin sits on the coffee table across from them. his scent is oddly comforting to jeno.

“okay, jeno. this is the void. it’s where fallen angels live,” mark tries to say it slowly so he can read jeno’s facial expressions, attempting to see if the angel manages to recognize anything he says. so far, nothing.

“fallen angels? what?” jeno rubs his temples. “so, you’re telling me that fallen angel’s are real? so, like, there’s real angels? and heaven? and, like, hell?”

mark nods in confirmation. “yes.”

“and, you’re a fallen angel?” jeno questions, looking at mark with nothing but curiosity. 

“yes. so is jaemin,” mark looks to his boyfriend. jaemin does not look amused, but he waves when jeno looks at him.

“so, what am i?” jeno whispers. he’s looking at mark like he trusts him with his entire being, and mark knows it’s bad to lie to an angel, but he’s been unloyal to the heavens for years.

“a fallen. you’re one of us,” mark mumbles and jaemin’s mouth falls open.

jeno nods, bottom lip between his teeth as he tries to process what he’s been told. after a few minutes of silence, he speaks again. “so...if i’m a fallen...am i human, too?”

jaemin snorts, finally speaking up. “yes. angels, fallens, even some demons are all human. you lived a human life first and then died. chosen ones become angels, others go to hell, and some find peace. you became an angel.”

jeno raises an eyebrow in disbelief. “so, why am i a fallen angel now? what happened?”

“yeah, mark,” jaemin remarks, questioning look on his face, “what did happen?”

mark glares at jaemin and silently tells him to fuck off. jaemin just sticks his tongue out, knowing mark all too well. “you fall from heaven when you break rules. like lying, stealing, hurting others, failing to do your duties, etc. it’s kind of like a three strike policy, but, sometimes there are exceptions. it depends on the situation.”

jeno looks confused and mark laughs at him. jeno tilts his head. “your laugh is really pretty.”

mark sobers up and looks to jaemin. the younger just shrugs in a This Is Your Problem sort of way. “uhm...thank you,” mark blushes. 

jeno just smiles. oh, he’s pretty. not just pretty because he shimmers from being an angel, but because he’s gorgeous on his own.

“so, why are you guys in the void?” jeno asks, looking at him innocently. for some, their story of falling from heaven is sensitive, others it’s just another day for them. but, of course jeno doesn’t know that not asking is pretty much an unspoken rule in the void.

mark just grins at him, shrugging his shoulders. “i wasn’t so good with rules. i was never good at it while being human, let alone being held to the standard of an angel. got caught sneaking out, going places i shouldn’t, while on the job.”

jeno purses his lips. “what was your job?”

“guardian angel, of course,” mark looks smug and jaemin just scoffs.

“he was shit at it, by the way. his poor charges got neglected like crazy. that’s why he got kicked from heaven.” jaemin seems annoyed and jeno feels bad for not asking him more questions.

jeno turns towards jaemin. “why’d you get _kicked_ from heaven?” 

“i fell in love with an idiot,” jaemin just rolls his eyes. 

“hey! i am not an idiot,” mark argues, pout forming on his lips.

“one of the rules in heaven,” jaemin begins, to clarify for jeno as the angel looks lost, “is that angels are not allowed to have interactions with demons or fallens. mark fell from heaven way before i did, and stupidly, i loved him despite this. eventually, i got in trouble with the higher ups and they expelled me. that’s how i ended up here.”

“i’m sorry, that’s unfair,” jeno’s voice is soft and jaemin can’t help it when he wants to coo at him. “i thought heaven was all about love and stuff.”

jaemin sniggers. “maybe at one point.”

mark speaks up, knowing it’s still a sore spot for jaemin. “let’s just say, heaven is a bit different from what you’d expect it to be.”

jeno just nods his head, accepting what mark says without argument. he takes in the living room of the cabin. it’s not small, but not big by any means. it’s made of all wood, but there is a brick fireplace. the furniture doesn’t match, but it does in a sort of I Didn’t Want It To Look Like I Wanted This To Match, But I Also Did way.

“your house is amazing,” jeno let’s out, “the woodwork is awesome. and all the decor and stuff too.”

mark smiles brightly. “why, thank you! i built this home with my own two hands.”  
jeno raises his eyebrows. “seriously? that’s amazing.”

“i did the decor,” jaemin mutters under his breath, but jeno catches it. curse his super hearing ability.

“it’s very pretty. it makes the place feel so…homey.” jeno is so sincere and jaemin’s heart feels...confused. he wants so badly to hate angels...maybe he even does because of what happened...but this one, he’s so special. he’s so pure and sweet. maybe it’s the memory loss, or maybe, it’s just who he is. they’ll have to wait and see.

jaemin’s eyes glance over all of jeno’s wounds. they seem fine, nothing has opened up or started bleeding. “jeno,” jaemin says, distracting the other from his trivial conversation with mark. “you were hurt pretty badly. we don’t know what happened, but mark found you by our house. you should lay down and rest.”

jeno’s eyebrows furrow. he seems to remember his pain and winces. “oh yeah, that’s why everything hurts.”

mark gets up off the couch to let jeno put his feet up. his clothes are still torn and ripped, showing off his tone chest. mark makes a mental note to get him new clothes. he grabs the blanket off the back of the couch and lays it over jeno.

“do you remember anything?” mark asks again, sitting next to jaemin on the coffee table, “like what happened when you got hurt?”

they let jeno have a few minutes to search his brain for any recollection. “no,” jeno sighs, “i don’t remember any of it. i can’t remember any of my life. not my parents, my birthday, anything. it’s so...scary. and empty.” 

jeno looks so small and mark wants to hug him. but it’s not his place, not his angel to corrupt.  
jeno purses his lips. “maybe i was on my way to see you guys, you did say we were friends, right? and, maybe something attacked me on the way? a demon…?”

mark hums while thinking. “i dunno. demons don’t come to the void to hurt, they come to party. it’s a neutral ground for all. the leader of the void, yuta, likes to keep it peaceful. if demons started attacking...it would lead to a war nobody wants to be involved in.”

jeno pouts, clearly upset by mark rejecting his idea. “do you guys know why i was kicked?”

jaemin decides to step in. “nah. you never told us. falling stories can be a sensitive matter for some. you never wanted to tell us, and we never pushed.”

jeno raises his eyebrows. “oh, weird. well, do you guys know anything else about me?”

“you’re 300 years old,” mark decides it’s fair enough to at least let him know his age.

“300!” jeno gasps in shock, mouth falling open. “oh my fucking god, i’m so old! how do i not look ancient!”

“300 is not old,” jaemin tells him with an amused smile on his face. “mark here is two-thousand.”  
jeno looks ready to pass out. “...t-two? thousand?” his voice is faint and mark can’t help but laugh at him.

“yeah, and they still call me young!” mark nudges jaemin with his elbow. “this one here is, what, like, 1600?”

“how...how do you guys look like…normal teenagers?” jeno has his hand over his heart like he’s trying to control his breathing.

“when you die, you can choose your form. some like their fifties, sixties, most choose their teenage years. i picked twenty. it was my favorite birthday. jaemin chose nineteen.”

jeno rubs his temples. “this is…a lot.”

jaemin doesn’t know what compels him, but he reaches out and touches the hand on jeno’s heart. “you’re taking it really well. if i were you, i’d run away as fast as possible.”

jeno turns pink in the cheeks and jaemin winks, causing even more redness. “i’m just...processing. also, i can’t really run when i have no idea where to go.”

“touché,” jaemin says. “i’m hungry. anyone else?”

“i am,” jeno decides, stomach pulling at his sides. 

“same,” mark agrees. “jaemin here makes a mean breakfast.”

jaemin rolls his eyes. “that’s because mark can’t cook for shit.”

“hey! i’m the breadwinner and you’re the cook. it’s how it works.”

jeno giggles, amused by the fallens in front of him. their bickering is cute, almost as cute as their faces.

“oh, fuck off,” jaemin huffs. “i can make breakfast, i suppose. jeno, stay here, don’t hurt yourself even more. mark, stop being stupid.”

“i’m so going to k-“ mark starts, but jaemin cuts him off with a kiss on the lips. “yes. no more stupidity,” he finally relents.

jaemin rolls his eyes and stalks off to cook. jeno looks down at the stitches on his chest.

“i just wish i knew what happened to me,” jeno sighs. “i’m sorry you guys had to stitch me up and stuff.” he looks genuinely sorry and mark feels kind of guilty for lying to him. kind of being the key words.

mark just waves his hand in dismissal. “don’t worry about it. we’ve been friends forever.”  
jeno seems content with mark’s answer. “how long? can you...you tell me about who i am? about us?”

realistically, he cannot. but, mark is a sinner. “hmm. you came to the void maybe fifty years ago. you were cute, innocent, very lost. we met you in the grocery store in the middle of the city, dawngrave if i forgot to tell you, because we were looking for batteries and you were looking for help. so, we met, went to grab some food in _solo mío_ —it’s a restaurant our friend donghyuck owns—and the rest is history.

jeno grins ear to ear, his crescent eyes appearing when he hears the story. it’s a good story, afterall, so wholesome and sweet. mark wishes that it was _their_ story, that they actually met like that. maybe in another life they would’ve. maybe in another life, they’d all be fallens together and be in love. 

“wow,” jeno muses, “that’s amazing. were we close?”

“the closest,” mark tells him with a small smile, “so close, you were considering moving in.”

jeno just pouts again. he's just so cute when he pouts, bottom lip jut out. mark is a sucker for a good pout. “well it sucks that i got hurt and i can’t remember anything.”

“it’s fine,” mark assured him. “everything will be fine. but, i’m going to let you rest now. you’ve had quite the morning. i can wake you for breakfast.”

jeno nods in agreement and closes his eyes. mark gets up and walks out of the room, but he can’t help but stand at the edge of the room and watch the shallow rise and fall of jeno’s chest until the angel manages to fall asleep.

by the time mark makes it to the kitchen, jaemin is standing at the stove with a huge frown on his face. 

“i hate you,” jaemin whispers, the bitterness easily detectable. “why are you lying to him, mark? what do you want from him? what sort of weird emotional attachment do you have to that stupid fucking angel?” jaemin stabs at the eggs being scrambled.

“are you jealous?” mark smirks and jaemin scowls. mark wraps his arms around jaemin’s waist from behind, face nuzzling into the crook of his shoulder. “don’t be jealous, nana.”

jaemin turns around and pushes mark off of him. “it’s not about being jealous, you stupid fucker! it’s about putting our asses on the line for someone we don’t even know. we made a deal. a few questions and then to sicheng he goes. but, no, you’ve gone and made up this crazy story.”

mark frowns. “i’m sorry.”

“sorry doesn’t cut it, mark! you’ve got to explain to me this weird fucking thing you have for him!”

“because,” mark swallows, “because of taeyong, nana. because heaven is corrupt and i can’t—i can’t let another innocent soul suffer up there. he’s special, nana. don’t you feel it? that gravitational pull?”

jaemin’s face softens, just a bit. “you can’t save everyone, baby. taeyong...he was sentenced unjustly, and i know it hurts you everyday. but, jeno, he’s an exception. he’s god’s favorite and we can’t keep him from his heavenly home.”

“tell me,” mark whispers, fingers reaching out and brushing all jaemin’s cheekbone, “tell me you don’t feel it. maybe it’s not destiny, but it’s something. he’s here for a reason, jaemin.”

the younger curls into mark’s touch. he does feel it, but he doesn’t want to. no matter how beautiful jeno is and how sweet he acts, there’s no denying that a lot of trouble comes with him. mark wants to keep him like a stray dog and jaemin just doesn’t know.

fate isn’t coincidental, but again jaemin just doesn’t know. in his long life, very few things have been coincidences. but, how can this be what fate wants for them? despite what many think, fate runs on its own accord. maybe heaven can work with it, help mold it, but in the end, fate is the only one who can decide what it’s going to do.

jaemin sighs. “i don’t know, mark. i just—i can’t wrap my head around the idea of keeping an angel here and hiding his identity. it doesn’t feel right.”

“i know,” mark kisses jaemin’s forehead. 

jaemin has suffered the wrath of god, and he sure as hell doesn’t want to suffer the wrath of nakamoto yuta, but mark is right in a way. heaven is corrupt—and there are so many possibilities. an angel falling into the void onto their property just doesn’t feel coincidental.

“fine,” jaemin relents, eyes closed. “fine. he can stay. but, mark, i just...i just don’t want anything bad to happen to you. us living here—us finding and loving each other after everything—it’s an anomaly in a world where fallen angels are supposed to be corrupt and loveless. i can’t...i can't lose you.”

mark pulls jaemin forward by grasping onto the material of the younger’s shirt. they’re chest to chest, face to face, and mark kisses jaemin. he kisses jaemin like there’s no tomorrow. his hands cup jaemin’s cheeks and jaemin melts into the kiss as always.  
they don’t pull away until jaemin notices the smell of burnt food. “oh fuck, the eggs.”

mark just laughs as him. the younger flicks mark on the middle of his forehead, making the older laugh even harder.

“you’re the best boyfriend a fallen angel could ever ask for,” mark comments, but he truly means it. 

jaemin just sighs for the umpteenth time. “yeah, yeah.”

by the time mark and jaemin have already eaten and are heading their separate ways for the day, jeno wakes up with a small groan. mark is in their bedroom getting ready to leave to collect more wood. only jaemin hears.

he cautiously walks back to where jeno is lying. the angel is awake and staring at the ceiling.

“hey,” jaemin says quietly as he walks over to him. “are you okay?”

jeno swallows. “hurts, a lot.”

“i know,” jaemin murmurs. he runs his fingers over jeno’s forehead, brushing the hair away from the bandage. jeno turns toward the touch, silently asking for more.

jaemin doesn’t know what it is about jeno. but, mark was right, there is a gravitational pull pushing them together. 

“i don’t suppose you have anything that can help, do you?” jeno’s voice is hoarse.  
jaemin shakes his head no with a sympathetic smile on his face. “i’m sorry, i’m all out. we’ll have to make a trip into the city.”

jeno nods, closing his eyes. “oh, okay.”

jaemin draws small circles onto the skin of jeno’s face. it’s too soft, jeno’s skin, jaemin’s actions. everything about it is just plain wrong. jeno is an angel with amnesia and jaemin is a fallen who has no business getting involved with yet another angel. 

he draws back, but jeno grabs his wrist before he can get too far. “stay,” jeno whispers, “please.”  
the fallen has a lot of things to get done, but jeno looks so pitiful and soft. jaemin has always been a sucker for sweet souls. 

jeno looks at jaemin with the most adorable puppy dog eyes and jaemin nods in agreement. silently, like they’ve done this before, jeno sits up and jaemin sits down in the spot that once occupied his head. jaemin grabs a pillow and sets it in his lap as jeno sinks down onto it.

jaemin threads his fingers through jeno’s hair, tenderly rubbing his scalp and helping him relax. he watches jeno’s chest rise and fall until he goes to sleep.

◯

jeno assimilates into their life with little difficulty. jaemin doesn’t know how it happens, how one day jeno was a stranger and the next it made sense for him to be there. mark said it had to be fate that brought him here. for some reason, any reason at all, jeno was meant to be there.

two months have passed since jeno showed up, and he has healed perfectly. and, somewhere in the middle of all the chaos, he had made a home. where he wakes up to help jaemin cook breakfast, where he hands mark nails while building, where he starts to know everything about them. 

now, they’re all sitting together for dinner. jaemin hasn’t been to the store in so long that everything is running thin and they had to make due.

“why can’t we go to the store?” jeno asks, pouting as he stabs at his lentils. he has expressed many times he hates lentils. “i wanna go to _solo mío_ , you know, where we met. can i meet donghyuck now? why are you guys keeping me so sheltered?”

jaemin looks at mark and his facial expression tells mark that he’s on his own for this one.  
“because, it’s dangerous. there’s too much tension out there right now.” 

that part _is_ true. heaven has been in turmoil for a month or so, hell is watching from afar as the sky grows weaker, and the void is in the middle of a developing war. dawngrave is just too popular and sicheng is advising against staying out in the city too long.

“but, we need food! and medical supplies and i’m bored,” jeno groans, his classic pout already forming on his lips. mark realized very quickly that there was a bit of evil in jeno as the angel used his pout to get his way. “plus, _solo mío!_ and donghyuck! please. you guys are keeping trapped here like rapunzel.”

jaemin snorts, but doesn’t say anything, clearly adamant on making mark take all of the heat. 

“jen, it’s just—“

“not safe,” jeno grumbles. “i’m not hungry anymore.” he picks up his plate and drops it in the sink, not even bothering to clear it off which he always does. they hear his footsteps as he disappears outside.

“good going,” jaemin mutters under his breath. 

“it’s not my fault,” mark huffs. “i didn’t do shit.”

“yeah, you did,” jaemin snaps, throwing his fork onto the table. “you brought him here!”

“how long are you going to keep bring that up?” mark screams, finally hitting his breaking point. “i see the way you look at him jaem,” mark’s voice softens a bit. “you can’t tell me...you can’t tell me that you regret letting him stay.”

jaemin drops his head onto the table, forehead resting on his forearms. “i don’t,” he mumbles, and mark can pick it up with his enhanced hearing. “i don’t regret it.”

“we haven’t been this happy in a long time, jaem. this—us—everything, it feels complete. i know you feel it.”

jaemin is silent.

◯

jeno comes back home after an hour or two of pouting in the backyard on the wooden porch swing mark made a few years ago. mark and jaemin check on him occasionally through the window above the sink, just to make sure he’s still there.

there are some nasty people who would do anything to get their hands on an angel. depending on the rank of the angel, you could get a hell of a lot of money for one.

jeno finally sucks it up and comes inside when it starts to rain. he huffs as he walks in and notices mark sitting in the living room.

“hi,” mark greets with a wave and jeno just plops down onto the couch. 

jeno gives him a cold stare and mark sighs. “are you gonna hate me forever? don’t forget, we can’t die.” 

silence.

“i don’t hate you,” jeno whispers, finally giving in. he looks at mark and when mark notices the way jeno’s eyes are red-rimmed like he’s been crying and his heart clenches. 

“i don’t want you to,” mark confesses. the way he says it, the way the words tumble off his lips, it makes him seem so small. jeno, without his memory, without knowing who he is, is so used to looking up to mark, to admiring mark. but, this, shows jeno just how vulnerable mark is.

jeno gulps. “come here.” he pats the spot next to him and mark goes with no hesitation. 

mark sits down and jeno throws himself into mark’s arms. it had become a place of comfort for the angel. he doesn’t know when mark’s arms and jaemin’s lap started to feel like...home. the realization makes him nervous, petrifies the deepest part of his soul, yet it always calms his racing heart. the thought of knowing no matter how far you go, no matter the space and time, the loss and gain of life, you have an end destination where you’re always welcomed. 

“i don’t think,” jeno doesn’t know why a tear slips out of his eye, why a hiccup escapes his throat, “i don’t think i can ever hate you. no matter how mad you make me.”

mark just holds him tighter.

◯

later that night, jaemin is asleep with mark next to him, when he hears something crash in the other part of the house. his eyes immediately fly open. mark is sound asleep when there’s another crash.

mark sleeps like the fucking dead and jaemin curses to himself. he slides out of bed and takes delicate steps toward the living room where jeno has been sleeping for the past 2 months. 

jaemin realizes he doesn’t have anything to protect himself and he curses. if someone is actually in the house, he’ll have to improvise and use the karate he learned back when he was a human. or scream loud enough that mark comes in with a baseball bat. one of the two will work.  
he makes his way to the living room and jeno isn’t in his bed. jaemin’s heart race doubles.  
there’s noise toward the study and jaemin decides to follow.

the study is just a few rooms down from the living room. it was rarely used, only for important papers, and jaemin can count the number of times he went in there on one hand. the last time being when he hid jeno’s halo in their safe.

when he walks into the doorway, jeno is there. his eyes are closed and he’s standing at the desk drawer where the safe is, fingers tracing along the wood like he wants to open it.

jaemin calls out to him, “jeno, what are you doing?” there’s a tremor to his voice. jeno is asleep and for whatever reason, he’s going for his halo.

jeno doesn’t answer, just pulls at the drawer and it opens without trouble. 

jaemin watches as jeno grabs the safe and sets it on the desk in front of him, eyes still closed, heart still beating like he’s asleep. jeno tries to open it, but he doesn’t know the code. jaemin let’s out a breath of relief.

nonetheless, light starts to seep out from the cracks in the box. jeno’s halo is calling out for him and jeno is going unconsciously.

jaemin gulps and immediately grabs at jeno’s wrists. he guides him away from the desk and back to the living room. his breathing is ragged, heart beating so hard he can feel it.  
carefully, he helps jeno back into bed and rubs the skin on his cheekbones with the pad of his thumb. jeno’s muscles ease into the familiar touch and he sinks back into deep sleep with no trouble at all.

jaemin practically trips from how fast he runs to the study. he takes the safe into his hands and hopes he can find a better hiding spot. nothing comes to mind, but he decides to put it in the back of their closet until they get a chance to find a better place.

he lays down in bed, but his mind can’t stop racing. 

_what does it mean?_

he doesn’t have a clue. all he knows is that jeno’s body knows who he is even if his mind can’t remember. like he told mark two months ago, you can’t keep an angel from their heavenly home. but even more, you can’t keep them from their heavenly duties.

◯

a week later and they still haven’t gone to the grocery store.

“mark, we’re going to fucking starve,” jaemin practically growls with frustration. 

“i’ll go soon. i just don’t want to risk anything.” mark is sweating from building the extension. he’s been working on it extensively now that jeno needs to get off the couch. it’ll be a big bedroom and a bathroom eventually. but, now, it’s just framework.

jaemin just grunts. “why can’t i just go?”

“danger,” is all mark says and jaemin has to laugh.

“you’re kidding, right? mark, i can handle myself, you fucking dumbass. can you stop with this whole macho, protector thing because you never did that before and it’s really annoying. like-“

mark stops working and his head whirls around. “where’s jeno?”

“huh?” jaemin scowls. “we weren’t talking about jeno. i feel like that’s all you think about now. jeno, jeno, jeno. which, i don’t blame you, but it’s also kind of annoying. like, i’ve been your boyfriend for too long frankly and-“

“no, jaem, really, where is jeno? i haven’t seen him since breakfast.”

jaemin stops ranting to take mark’s words into consideration. he purses his lips. “now that i think of it, i haven’t seen him since this morning either. usually he comes out and checks on us.”

“exactly.” mark drops his tools on the ground and walks back to the front of the house. jaemin follows him, finally feeling the urgency. they rush through the front door and begin to call out for him.

nowhere. 

“he’s not here,” jaemin’s voice quivers, eyebrows furrowed together in worry. “mark, he’s not here.”

“he’s not _what_?” mark’s eyes practically fall out of his head.

“he’s gone.” jaemin rubs his temples, heart in his throat. “just… _gone_.”

mark’s heart, on the other hand, sinks to his stomach. “do you think he just left?”

jaemin shrugs his shoulders, falling onto a chair in the kitchen. “i don’t think so? it doesn’t seem like him.”

when mark rethinks the part week, trying to figure out what jeno might be doing, he remembers, “ _solo mío! donghyuck_.”

the younger fallen angel looks over to mark and waits for an explanation.

“he wanted to go to _solo mío_ , he wanted to meet donghyuck. maybe that’s what he’s doing.”

it only takes them ten minutes to get their shit together before they’re hustling off toward the city. transportation works differently in the void. because fallens don’t have wings, their transportation is almost like teleportation. you think of where you want to go while walking and eventually you just land there.

mark doesn’t know how jeno could’ve figured it out, but he doesn’t have time to ponder it as they land right outside _solo mío_.

they look in through the windows and jeno is nowhere in sight. mark groans and hits the glass, scaring the others inside. he doesn’t even care enough to feel sorry.

jaemin is about to ask what they should do next when there’s a scream. it sounds oddly familiar and they’re rushing off to find it. 

in an alley, just a few stores down from the restaurant, is jeno dressed in mark’s jeans and jaemin’s sweatshirt. jaemin almost coos, but he doesn’t get a chance to when his eyes fall on the two fallens that have him cornered.

as they approach, they hear some vile things, “oh, what heaven would do for someone like you. so, so ravishingly.” 

one man reaches out to touch jeno’s cheek when mark grabs him by the back of his jacket and shoves him into the opposite wall. “don’t fucking touch him.”

jaemin knows mark can handle his weight, so he goes for the other guy blocking jeno’s exit.  
“get out of here,” jaemin says, voice low and eyes narrowed. they’re about the same height, jaemin probably has an inch or two on the other guy, but lacks in weight. “you heard what i said, go.”

“and if i don’t?” the other fallen challenges with a little smirk. he looks smug and jaemin can’t wait to wipe it right off of his stupid fucking face.

jaemin doesn’t care enough to respond, instead he grabs the fallen by the front of his t-shirt and drags them so they’re right up close. jaemin can see the facade vanish on the other guy’s face as jaemin puts on his sweet little smile. 

one second jaemin has the guy close to him and the next second he swings his fist and sacks him right in the jaw. jeno gasps somewhere behind him, but jaemin is too consumed in the moment to do anything else but throw his fists wherever they can hit. the guy can barely get a second to breathe before jaemin has him on the ground with his foot on his throat.  
the guy’s hands wrap around jaemin’s ankle in a vain attempt to pry jaemin’s foot off of his windpipe. jaemin just puts more weight on his leg.

“okay, okay, we’ll leave,” he chokes out, face turning red. “just...just let us go.”  


jaemin thinks about it for a moment. he’s so caught up in choking the guy out that he doesn’t notice jeno pulling at his hand.

“let him go, please. i just wanna go home,” jeno croaks out and jaemin’s heart falls at the sight. he steps down one last time for good measure before stepping backward onto the pavement. the guy gasps for air, taking it in by the lungful. jaemin has half the mind to spit on him, but jeno is dragging him out of the alley. mark’s wrist is in jeno’s other hand.

jeno begins to sprint down the sidewalk and suddenly they’re right outside the cabin’s front door. jeno’s hand is trembling as his grip grows so tight it almost hurts.  
neither fallen gets upset by the way jeno’s fingers dig into their skin. if this is what jeno needs, they’ll give it to him. jeno doesn’t reach for the door, probably not wanting to let go of mark and  
jaemin, so mark opens it for them.

jeno relaxes a bit once they’re inside. he doesn’t let go of them, can't bring himself to. jaemin carefully guides them to the bedroom. 

the angel relaxes even more once they’ve made into the safety of their bedroom, the combined scent of jaemin’s cologne and mark’s body wash mingling together. jeno feels at ease as he breathes in. 

he takes his hands off of mark and jaemin before sitting on the edge of their bed. 

mark wants to yell and scream at how badly jeno scared them, but he can’t help but wonder if he even has the right to do so. jeno isn’t their boyfriend, he’s just their friend. 

but the way jeno falls apart in front of them, sobbing until he can’t breathe, reaching out for them so pitifully. the way he cries into mark’s chest and clenches jaemin’s shirt so tight his knuckles turn white. it doesn’t feel particularly platonic and mark’s not sure he wants it to be.

his right hand touches the nape of jeno’s neck and his left holds the angel’s hand. mark’s lips brush the top of jeno’s ear as he whispers sweet nothings to him. his attempt at pacifying jeno’s sobs fails, so he just sits there and holds him the best he can.

jaemin drapes himself over jeno’s back, and just like that, they huddle together with jeno’s crying as the soundtrack.

◯

the room falls quiet after an hour or so, mark having moved them so they were lying down on the bed. mark sits up enough to see jaemin tracing shapes onto the soft skin of jeno’s stomach. jeno cried himself to sleep, lulled by the comfort of mark’s chest and jaemin’s warmth

“i was so worried,” jaemin admits, pushing himself up so his head rests on his hand. “i never thought someone would be able to make me feel the way you do.”

jaemin’s confession doesn’t create any jealousy or animosity toward jeno the way mark thought it would. mark’s never been the jealous kind, maybe here and there, a few times every hundred years, but he never thought he would be able to share jaemin this way. share his love, his kisses, his heart, his home. yet, there’s nothing bitter in his heart when he thinks about letting jeno into their lives and giving him the same affection he would for jaemin.

mark licks his lips. “me either.”

mark and jaemin have known each other for ages, loved each other even longer. they’ve navigated so much heartbreak and happiness together. 

“i don’t know if it will work, if it can even work, but i want it to.” jaemin brushes the hair out of jeno’s eyes. 

“i know,” mark hums and there’s no need for more words between them. 

jeno wakes up half an hour later to mark and jaemin watching tv. he rubs his eyes groggily.

“hey,” mark greets with this smile that sends electricity up jeno’s spine. “do you need anything?”

jeno shakes his head. “no, i’m okay.”

“okay,” mark murmurs as jeno pushes himself up to rest on the headboard, shoulder to shoulder with mark and jaemin.

“hi,” jaemin nudges jeno’s shoulder with a little smile on his face. 

jeno looks down at his lap, fingers twisting the blanket they put over him. “i’m sorry,” he breathes out, eyes closed like he’s scared of their reaction.

“no, i’m sorry,” mark mumbles, grabbing jeno’s hand and intertwining their fingers. “i shouldn’t have kept you inside. you aren’t an animal in a zoo and i shouldn’t try and treat you like one.”  
jeno shakes his head. “no, you guys were right. it’s too dangerous out there and i should’ve listened. i just...i just wanted to meet donghyuck and see his restaurant. and, i thought, maybe if i went to where we met...i could remember something about myself. about us.”

“we’re just glad you’re okay,” jaemin takes jeno’s other hand into his own. “and,” jaemin bites his lip, “you can meet donghyuck. he can come over for dinner, bring his boyfriend with him.”

jeno looks at jaemin with wide eyes, “really? he can?”

jaemin makes eye contact with mark and the older fallen just shakes his head in silent agreement. “yeah. just name a date and time.”

jeno grins so hard jaemin thinks his face might fall off. “yay! thank you!” he throws himself into jaemin’s lap, squeezing his sides so hard jaemin can’t breathe.

all the apprehension jaemin has vanishes when he looks at mark. the older is watching them, eyes fond and face soft. jaemin hugs jeno back, holding onto him even tighter.

◯

“what if he doesn’t like me?” jeno fusses with the napkins he set out on the table for dinner.

“who?” mark asks, clueless as usual. he’s sitting at the kitchen island reading a novel from forever ago. 

“donghyuck!” jeno whines and mark just laughs, amused by the angel’s anxiety.

“he’ll love you, trust me,” jaemin assures from the stove. “plus, technically, you guys already know each other, from before you lost your memory.”

“he could still hate me,” jeno grumbles under his breath like it does him any good.

mark is about to tell jeno off when there’s a knock at the door. he climbs off the stool and looks at jeno expectantly. “well, aren’t you going to greet the guy you snuck out of the house for?”  
jeno groans, but follows mark to the door. mark throws it open and there stands donghyuck in all black and huang renjun in similar attire. 

“hey,” hyuck greets with a grin. renjun waves at mark and then his eyes turn to jeno. renjun’s mouth falls open and he looks at mark with wide eyes.

“hey,” mark greets, confused by renjun’s reaction. he shrugs it off. hyuck probably forgot to tell renjun they’re hiding an angel in their house. “this is jeno. jeno, hyuck,” he gestures to donghyuck, “and his boyfriend, renjun.”

“hi,” jeno smiles and moves out of the doorway to welcome them inside. “it’s so nice to finally meet you...again.”

jaemin and mark may have forgotten to tell hyuck about their scheme, but hyuck catches on quickly. he smirks at mark and the older rolls his eyes. donghyuck is the worst of all of them. how the fuck he was asked to be an angel, nobody knows. he was a shitty person on earth and even worse when he gained his powers.

“of course!” hyuck pulls jeno in for a hug and the angel looks a little freaked out, but settles into hyuck’s arms very quickly. they get along like best friends and mark is glad.

they all migrate to the kitchen where jaemin is.

“nana, your cooking smells as good as ever,” renjun grins as he embraces jaemin.  
“jun, it’s been so long! how’s heaven?” jaemin stirs the food and looks at hyuck who is in deep conversation with jeno.

mark comes over and stands by them, deciding to let jeno just enjoy the moment he’s been longing for. 

“yeah, that’s something i want to talk to you about. c’mon,” renjun grabs their shirts and drags them to the living room. mark and jaemin look at each other before collectively shrugging. 

“what’s up?” jaemin asks, noticing renjun’s scowl immediately.

“what’s up?” renjun whisper-shouts, “whats up? you guys realize you’re housing lee jeno, right?”

“well, we didn’t know his last name, but yes, we are housing, jeno, yes,” mark answers with a stupid look on his face and renjun looks very unamused with them.

“oh my god, you guys don’t know. he doesn’t know, does he? amnesia? something like that?” renjun seems to have it all figured out, so mark isn’t really sure why he’s asking

jaemin nods as an answer.

renjun sighs and rubs his temples. “you guys don’t understand, that’s _lee jeno_. he’s not just any angel, he’s God’s son.”

mark furrows his eyebrows. “i thought all angels were children of God?”

“yeah,” renjun rolls his eyes, “obviously, but jeno is special. he’s selected jeno to be Overseer of the Head Angels. he’s special.”

“Overseer?” jaemin’s mouth falls over, “but his halo...he’s 300. that doesn’t make any sense!”  
renjun just laughs. “wow, you guys really know nothing down here in the void. when jeno came to heaven, he was exceptional. he wasn’t religious in his human life, but his record was squeaky clean. and, he was good at every job he tried. he was working on earth again around age 70 as a guardian angel. jeno is basically heaven royalty.”

mark needs a few moments to take in all the information. Overseer of Head Angels is a prestigious title and they only get replaced thousands and thousands of years after being in their position. if angels could die, it would be a job until death. Overseer is close to God, works as their right hand, is basically a watered down version of God himself.

“and, now...he’s missing,” mark mutters. “so, what’s going on in heaven?”

“truthfully, i’m not sure. i haven’t been there in a while. i’m technically still on a mission that i completed weeks ago, i’m just staying here until my time maxes out. but, i’m sure it’s not good. God will come for what’s his, one way or another. you have to prepare yourselves for that.”

“i’ve been meaning to ask,” jaemin mentions, “what exactly is the situation in heaven? why is it so bad? why are so many angels leaving.”

renjun sighs heavily and runs his fingers through his hair. “because it was once about love and hope, it was a place of happiness and expression, of peace when you couldn’t find it on earth. it was about helping those who need it. but, lately, it’s just been about keeping fallens, demons, and angels submissive all the same. there’s just so much…propaganda going on, i don’t know. the rules have always been strict, but the three stike policy is practically gone, people are getting put in ironforge for no reason, and angels are being forced to do things they should never have to do. there’s so much blame and it’s always put on the wrong people. like, my relationship with hyuck for example. there’s so much hate toward fallens, we’re supposed to blame them for corrupting heaven when they were once our friends. and, the punishments for crossing into the void and seeking relations with a fallen are much harsher than ever before. it’s a bad time to be up there, sometimes, hell seems preferable.”

“i’m sorry jun,” mark touches the angel’s shoulder, “i’m sorry for everything. it sounds brutal.”

renjun just frowns. “thank you, mark. but, i’m serious, God is going to want jeno. he’s probably searched all of heaven and earth for him. it’s only a matter of time before he tears through the void.”

jaemin and mark don’t even know what to say, how to respond to the new information. there’s so much to take in and neither of them wants to accept who jeno really is.

“wait,” jaemin says suddenly, “if he’s so important, why was he flying through the void alone?”  
renjun purses his lips. “truth be told, i don’t know. just because he was important doesn’t mean he wasn’t miserable in heaven. maybe he was running. maybe he needed to clear his head. only he knows, but without his memories, i don’t know if we’ll ever know. but, i don’t think it matters at this point. he’s here and he’s wholly yours, so savor it.”

renjun pats mark and jaemin on the shoulders before leaving the room. mark and jaemin just stare at each other and for the first time, mark has no idea what jaemin is thinking. what is there to do at this point? they’re too attached to jeno to let him go, will get in too much trouble for keeping him. 

“he’s ours right now,” jaemin mumbles, biting on the inside of his cheek as he thinks. “and, renjun is right. all we can do is savor it.”

◯

“what’d we miss?” mark asks as they enter the kitchen. jaemin immediately darts over to his food he’d left on the stove, renjun staring at it curiously.

“just jeno telling me that you’re a shitty carpenter,” hyuck says with a stupid smirk on his face. jeno turns pink and slaps hyuck on the arm.

“i didn’t say that! i said he’s detail-oriented! sorry, donghyuck is an asshole and a liar,” jeno pouts and mark just coos at him.

donghyuck just grins his annoying grin and mark wants to punch him in the throat. “you know that you annoy me to no end, right?”

“of course i do! it’s part of my charm,” hyuck gives him that devilish grin of his and mark just sighs.

jaemin and renjun call them to the table after a few minutes of chit-chat and mark’s stomach rumbles when he smells the food. they sit at the table and start dishing out whatever was cooked. it spells like pad thai and mark hopes it is. 

“wait,” jeno stops them, holding his hands up, “shouldn’t we like...pray? i mean...because renjun is here.”  
renjun stares at him for a solid ten seconds before bursting out into laughter. mark can’t help himself and starts to giggle too. eventually, the whole table is laughing at jeno and the angel is just pouting at them. 

“why are you guys laughing? stop laughing. jaemin!” jeno hits jaemin in the stomach and the fallen chokes on his spit. “it’s not funny.”

“yes, yes it is,” renjun says as soon as he’s sobered up. “it is very funny. first off, only religious people pray. for angels, it’s less about religion. it’s very different from earth. i don’t know how to describe it, but it’s just more a job than it is anything else. it’s not really about the belief system. and second off, i haven’t been loyal to heaven in ages.”

while jeno processes the information, the rest of them go on eating and talking. jaemin squeezes jeno’s thigh in an attempt to comfort him. it seems to work as jeno begins to eat too.

they all fall into comfortable conversation like all of them really are old friends and it’s not just some story mark made up. after dinner, jeno decides to clean up and much to everyone else’s surprise, donghyuck helps.

“not once in all the years that we’ve been friends has donghyuck decided to help with clean up,” mark rolls his eyes as they sit in the living room. “

“guess he just really likes jeno,” renjun shrugs. “i mean who wouldn’t? he’s pretty funny.”

“they just get along because they both bully the shit out of mark,” jaemin mentions and it makes mark huff.

“oh, whatever, they can have fun doing dish duty. we can have fun watching a stupid romcom.”  
“that is not my definition of fun,” renjun grimaces at the thought. 

“well, i want to watch one, so, my house, my rules.” mark turns on the tv to spite renjun, but the angel just ignores him like usual. they’ve been friends long enough that the banter is nothing new or offensive. it’s just how they are.

jaemin cuddles into mark’s side, content with having mark all to himself for just a few moments. ever since the incident, jeno has refused to sleep on the couch and instead worms his way in between jaemin and mark every night. neither fallen has a problem with it, but it used to be prime cuddle time for jaemin.

“hey,” jeno greets as him and donghyuck walk into the room, shoulders touching as they stand in the doorway. they’re cute together, instant best friends, and mark is glad they’re getting along.

“hi,” jaemin waves, tucked into mark’s side.

“hi, baby,” renjun reaches out for donghyuck and the fallen goes to him easily. they’re sitting on the love seat and donghyuck bends down to kiss him.

jeno watches intently, a little bit curious about it. renjun smiles against hyuck’s lips before pulling him closer. at that point, jeno looks away and mark throws a pillow them.

“ew, take that pda elsewhere. this is a family friendly show,” mark scolds, eyes looking to jeno who is staring at the floor like it’s his job.

“you and jaemin have done worse than kiss in front of us,” hyuck points out, lips pulled up in a smug smile. 

“oh, fuck off,” jaemin mutters the same time mark says, “not here.”

hyuck glances to jeno (the angel is blushing bright red) and gives them a small, but sympathetic smile.

“come here, jen,” mark pats the seat on the other side of him, “sit.”

jeno looks up at the mention of his name and happily goes to him, sitting down and immediately cuddling up next to him like it’s second nature. it sort of is, when mark thinks about it. their entire relationship has adapted and evolved, making room for another person even if said person has no idea.

they all stay like that for the remainder of the night, up until hyuck and renjun get too busy making out shamelessly and jaemin kicks them out. 

mark and jeno are left alone on the couch when jaemin heads to the bathroom. mark can sense jeno has something to say, but he doesn’t try to push it. he’s come to learn in these short two, almost three, months that jeno will say what’s on his mind when he’s ready.

“mark,” jeno whispers and mark turns his head from where he had been occupied watching a dumb movie.

“yeah?” mark can see there’s apprehension on jeno’s face, from his bottom lip is swollen from chewing on it and cheeks pink.

“uhm,” jeno closes his left eye like he always does when he’s trying to find the right words. it’s endearing and it makes mark want to just lean over and kiss him. 

“what’s up?” mark turns down the volume to give jeno his undivided attention. jeno just turns redder.

jeno can’t find the words and mark has no way of helping. 

finally, after a long minute of silence, jeno leans forward and puckers up. mark’s eyes widen when he realizes jeno wants to kiss him. he could stop him, tell him that kissing has a lot of implications that he’s not sure either one of them is ready for. but, he thinks back to what renjun said, and mark grabs jeno by the shirt, pulls him close, and kisses him like his life depends on it.

jeno tastes sweet in a way mark doesn’t understand and doesn’t care to at the moment. his tongue brushes jeno’s, and the angel just whines at the contact. jeno is practically in mark’s lap, holding onto his shoulders as they kiss.

mark vaguely hears footsteps and his mind remembers jaemin’s existence. he grins to himself, can’t wait to float to the other fallen.

“you guys are gross,” jaemin informs them as he sits down next to them. jeno squeaks in surprise and quickly throws himself next to mark, putting too much space between them.

mark just laughs. “hi, nana.”

“hi, mark,” jaemin kisses him on the cheek. “so, the movie?”

mark presses play and everything resumes to before the kiss. jeno is a little confused, drunk on the kiss, and overall unsure what to do. he wants to talk about it, acknowledge it in some way, discuss what it means, but jaemin nor mark seem to think it’s important. 

jeno just settles down and curls up into mark’s side, not sure what else he should do.

◯

“c’mon, jen, we’re going to bed,” jaemin shakes jeno’s arm softly. jeno’s eyes open and he blinks a few times, not having realized he fell asleep. “let’s go, i’m tired.”

jaemin drags jeno from the couch toward their bedroom. jeno follows, half asleep, and drowsy as hell. the two fall into bed, jeno in the middle and jaemin on his usual side.

jeno turns to face the other fallen, hazy eyes full of admiration. “hi.”

“hi,” jaemin smiles. they’re so close, close enough that he could just tilt his head a little and they’d be kissing. jaemin wants to kiss him real bad.

“hi,” jeno murmurs, eyelids closed. 

jaemin reaches out and moves a piece of jeno’s hair from his forehead like he always does. jeno follows his touch and his eyes open when jaemin retracts his hand. jeno’s eyes are trained on jaemin’s lip. 

“kiss,” jeno says, stupidly. “kiss me.”

“okay,” jaemin smiles softly before pressing his lips to jeno’s. 

it’s different from how jaemin kisses mark. with mark, there is familiarity and calm, the sound of the ocean waves in the background and soft vanilla as the scent. but, jeno is more electricity and surprise, fireworks and the color red all make sense when he kisses jeno. both are amazing, both are all jaemin wants for the rest of his long, long life.

jeno is sleepy and jaemin stops kissing him to let him sleep.

“rest, now,” jaemin kisses jeno’s cheek, fingers brushing his cheekbone afterward.  
“goodnight, nana,” jeno mumbles.

“goodnight, jeno.”

◯

it doesn’t take much for mark to realize jeno really likes kissing. it may be that jeno jumps at the chance to kiss any second he gets, or how much jeno talks about it.

nonetheless, it works. everything works. they don’t talk about it much, but it makes sense to all of them. there is no need for words between them.

the way jeno kisses, the way jaemin smiles, the way mark feels. everything between them, around them, before them. their existence with one another feels meant to be. like fate pushed jeno here. 

it feels too good to be true. when mark looks out and watches jeno with jaemin tend to the garden, when he falls asleep with them next to him. when they watch tv together, when they eat meals together, when they complete the missing pieces of each other.

it’s love in so many ways. physically, emotionally, mentally. it’s love without saying it because sometimes words aren’t enough and actions are more concrete. 

mark knows what love is because he loves jaemin with his entire being. he’s in love with jaemin, and he wouldn’t change that for the world. but, his love for jaemin makes him understand the weight the words i love you hold.

 _i love you._ three words, eight syllables that hold so much weight in some worlds and nothing in others  
.  
in the void, in heaven, in hell, love is just love. you live so long, that it’s just like every other emotion. happiness, anger, sadness, love. they all come and go, and after a thousand years they blend into the background, fade to the point where you can’t tell the difference sometimes.

so in mark’s home, in his world, down in the void he is glad that when it comes to jeno they don’t have to love verbally. not when jeno is a bliss that won’t last and mark doesn’t think he can bear the heartbreak.

◯

domestic bliss. two words mark never would’ve thought he would appreciate as much as he does now. as he works on the extension to the house and hears the laughter from his two favorite boys, he realizes this is the happiness.

mark walks to the front of the house to grab his water where he left it and as he drinks it, hyuck appears out of the corner of his eye.

“why do you always show up unexpected?” mark asks as soon as he finishes swallowing.

hyuck is panting and mark can’t figure out why because they don’t walk or run anywhere to transport. the absolute most hyuck had to do was walk to the end of his driveway.

“what’s up?” mark tosses the bottle of water to hyuck who takes a long gulp.

“have you seen the news?” hyuck passes the water back. 

“no? why would i?” mark furrows his eyebrows and hyuck just shakes his head.

“c’mon, we have to go.” hyuck grabs mark’s wrist and drags him inside. mark looks out the window just to see jaemin and jeno sitting on the ground, tending to the garden they started growing. 

hyuck flicks the TV on and the only news channel in the void comes on screen. not much happens in the voids in terms of crimes. fallens don’t have much to lose and those who try anything often get punished. 

so, it’s a shock to say the least when there stands nakamoto yuta, johnny seo, and God in his human form as moon taeil all on a raised platform together.

“what the fuck?” mark can’t help from asking. God never comes to the void, never leaves heaven for that matter, because it’s too dangerous for him. 

“listen,” hyuck instructs, turning the volume up.  
mark isn’t sure what to refer to God as. angels rarely see God as it is in heaven, let alone in the human form he decides on. 

nonetheless, he begins to speak. “now, many of you may wonder why i’m here. and, truth be told, it’s because i have reasons to believe that one of my angels has been kidnapped and is now being held here in the void. i want him back. any fallen, angel, or demon involved in his disappearance will be punished and face my very own wrath. anyone with information, speak up. details about his appearance and more will be given later.”

God steps back and yuta comes forward. “this goes out to any fallen here in the void: find this angel. his name is lee jeno, 300 years old. he’s a guardian angel. if you speak up, you will be rewarded here in the void, thank you.”

and, then johnny is walking up the mic. “this message will be repeated back in hell, but i know many demons linger here. if you had anything to do with this angel’s disappearance, you will not only face the wrath of God, but of my own as well. bring him back in one piece.”  
the news cuts and an anchor is on screen showing a picture of jeno. 

mark feels sick to his stomach, hands clammy, forehead sweaty. so much is going wrong. first, heaven, hell, and the void have never come together like this ever. not since the creation. 

jeno, oh, lee jeno, is so important to God he put aside his pride and ego and millions years worth of tension aside just to find him.

“God’s wrath?” mark mumbles, “that can only mean one thing…”

“ironforge,” hyuck shudders at the thought.

ironforge is a prison for angels, fallens, and demons alike. it’s on a remote island where very few know the location of, but many know the horrors that go on there. it’s a place of torture, hate, fear, and agony. angels, demons, and fallens can’t die, but ironforge is the closest you can get to it. it’s like dying over and over everyday until you escape or become so immune to the pain it becomes second nature. it’s worse than rotting in the depths of hell.

“what are we going to do now?” mark rubs his forehead, on the edge of pulling his own hair out.  
hyuck just shrugs his shoulders. the door opens and he quickly changes the channel. a few seconds later, jeno comes into the living room with a big smile on his face.

“oh, donghyuck! hi!” jeno opens his arms up for a hug and hyuck hugs him tight. “you’re hugging me like this is the last time you’re going to see me,” jeno laughs, stroking the hair on the nape of hyuck’s neck.

hyuck just sighs heavily and inhales jeno’s scent. it’s weird because jeno hasn’t been in heaven for months, but he still smells like it. and, hyuck can’t help but wonder if it’s his body yearning for its home. he’s still an angel at heart, by nature, within his soul. maybe he doesn’t know it consciously, but hyuck is sure his subconscious is supicious.

“what are you guys watching?” jeno asks, still hugging donghyuck because the fallen refuses to let go. 

“oh, nothing, just talking really. we just put it on as background noise,” mark shrugs nonchalantly, hoping his voice is as stable in real life as it sounds in his mind. 

“ahh, i just came for some water,” jeno laughs, arms still for snuggly around hyuck’s shoulders. “hyuck,” he coughs subtly, “uhm, water.”

“oh, right,” hyuck says and begins walking them to the kitchen for a drink. jeno just cackles, but doesn’t resist as they waddle out of the room. 

mark is glad that they get along so well. it makes everything so much easier—well, it did. but, now, it just complicates it even more. because jeno is attached to people here, and it’s inevitable that one day God is going to find him and take him home. no matter where they move to, if they try to hide, God wants jeno and he’ll have him in the end. it doesn’t matter who ends up as collateral damage.

mark sighs loudly just as jaemin comes into the room. he’s a little sweaty, but still cute. 

“what’s wrong?” jaemin asks immediately, coming to mark’s side and sitting next to him.

“there’s basically a bounty over jen’s head,” mark’s head falls into the palms of his hands. “God _and_ johnny seo came to the void, jaem. there’s a witch-hunt out for him. he’s threatening to send anyone involved with his disappearance to ironforge...and yuta and johnny backed him up

jaemin’s eyes go wide as his mind goes blank. “ _fuck_ ,” is all he can manage to say. “ _fuck_.”

“ _fuck_ is right,” mark replies, rubbing his temples.

“what...what are we going to do?” 

mark can tell jaemin is trying his best to keep calm, but there is a bit of panic laced in his voice. mark wishes so badly that he could comfort the younger fallen, but he can’t. because he doesn’t know the right answer, if there is a right answer.

turn jeno in themselves and lose him forever. keep him hidden and start a war with God.  
there are no good options, no right answers, and nothing makes sense. it’s only a matter of time.

jaemin finds an answer to his own question. “we can’t do anything but stay here. we’re too far in...too attached fo him and we can’t just let him go. it’s not right or fair to him.”  
“but, waging a war with heaven? jaemin, even i know that’s something we could never do.”

“mark,” jaemin sighs, “fallens are loyal to the people they love—especially when we’re kicked from heaven for doing just that. i’ll risk anything for him. and, i’ll risk anything for you. you wanted him to stay and he did. and, now we have to have his back. we’re at the point of no return.”

jaemin is completely right and it makes mark’s stomach hurt. he is loyal to jeno until the end, just like he is loyal to jaemin. 

because even though he’s loved jaemin for much longer, his feelings are just the same for lee jeno. love finds a way to worm its way into your veins and light you on fire, scorch you until there’s nothing left but bones and ash. it creates a person who would do nothing less than burn the world down for the people they love—and these feelings don’t matter how long you’ve loved someone. it’s a matter of the intensity, of the truthfulness, of the purity. and, mark’s love for jeno is intense, truthful, and pure—enough to strike a match to heaven and watch it burn for him if need be.

“okay,” mark breathes out and jaemin hugs him so tight it would hurt him if he could feel any pain beyond the pain in his heart.

“okay,” jaemin replies and mark feels a tear from the younger’s eyes on his shoulder.

◯

they’re lucky that hyuck takes over entertaining jeno for the rest of the day because they just don’t have the energy to fake normalcy. and, hyuck is sure he treasures the time he got with jeno because it might be the last.

hyuck leaves after helping jeno make dinner and watching a few movies in the living room, cuddled up next to the angel. as he bids his goodbyes, he holds onto jeno for a little longer and a little tighter.

now, as jeno waits for mark to finish his shower, he looks to jaemin for answers.

“was hyuck okay?” jeno asks absentmindedly, fingers playing with the sheets on the bed.  
jaemin looks up from his desk where he is secretly reading about what’s going on in the void, if anyone has any leads or clues. so far, nothing.

“huh? i think so,” jaemin doesn’t want to talk about it because it hurts too much. the thought of jeno leaving them makes him want to cry.

“he was just being really clingy,” jeno shrugs.

“i wouldn’t worry too much about it, jen, it’s donghyuck. he’s clingy and then he isn’t. i don’t know how renjun lives with it.” it’s lies, it’s all lies and jaemin can only think about the fact that they’re trying to stall their impending doom with small talk. it just seems wrong, but there’s nothing they can do about it.

they can’t hit the road with fear of being seen/recognized. they can’t give jeno back. all they can do is wait and wait.

“if you’re sure,” jeno just sighs. “can you come to bed now?”

jaemin exes out of the tabs and gets into bed with jeno. the angel reaches out and kisses jaemin. this jaemin can’t get enough of. he has turned jeno into a pretty good kisser and he brags about it to mark all the time. they kiss for awhile, lazy smooches on the cheek here and there, a bit of nibbling, but nothing too risqué. jaemin’s not up for it.

“are you sure you’re okay?” jeno pushes jaemin away and frowns hard.

“yeah, i’m just tired,” jaemin lies through his teeth and he hates it. he hates how it makes him feel. 

“you should sleep,” jeno chastises before planting another kiss on jaemin’s cheek. jaemin smiles at him before turning onto his other side just so he doesn’t have to fade jeno any longer. keeping it inside is killing him, but losing jeno would be even more devastating.

mark walks into their bedroom and gets dressed a few minutes later. he climbs into bed after pecking jaemin’s forehead, the younger fallen still pretending to be asleep.

he hears jeno ask mark the same question, only mark’s answer is more intelligent. jaemin would usually be concerned about how good mark’s deceiving skills are, but he just doesn’t have the energy. instead, he falls asleep with mark and jeno’s voices as the soundtrack.

◯

they try their best to go on as normal as possible. mark builds the house, jaemin does his best to keep a smile on his face. the facade is poor, but jeno tries to make it feel normal because he doesn’t have any other option.

mark wants it to be normal. he wants so badly to have no knowledge of what is to come, of what might happen to all of them. but, he can’t help it when he twists and turns as he tries to fall asleep, when his dreams turn to nightmare. 

now, they’re at breakfast and jeno’s eyes are burning holes into mark’s face. 

“can i help you with something?” mark asks, dumbly.

“are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” jeno snarks, discontent obvious in his voice and the way he drops his syrupy fork on the table. 

“nothing’s wrong,” mark grits out, attempting to keep his anger at bay. he’s not angry at jeno, he’s angry at their situation.

jaemin stays silent as the tension grows so thick he could suffocate on it. if he opens his mouth, he’ll spill the truth out and he’s not sure now is the right time. he’s not sure if there is a right time. they’ve been lying for months, letting jeno believe he disgraced god and fell to the void, but that’s a lie even the devil would be disappointed in. 

“bullshit,” jeno snaps. he looks like he’s a few seconds from throwing his plate of pancakes at mark. jaemin almost laughs.

“it’s not bullshit,” mark tries to keep his tone light, but his patience is running thin and he’s not sure how much longer he can do this. he hasn’t lived in this kind of fear in hundreds of years, not since he was terrified of jaemin getting caught dating a fallen. he wasn’t even this scared when he was on the verge of being kicked from heaven. this is the kind of fear that stems from the mere thought of losing someone you love more than you can even comprehend. 

“you’re such a bad liar,” jeno scoffs and leaves the table. it feels like this scene has already played out and jaemin actually lets out a snort. so much has changed since when jeno first got here, and there is nothing jaemin can do to fix it.

“stop laughing,” mark mumbles, pushing his plate away from him.

jaemin sobers up and just sighs. “how much longer do you think we can keep this up? how much longer will he even put up with it?”

mark opens his mouth to speak, but when he looks out the window his eyes widen before he’s up and scrambling from the table to the backyard.  
jaemin follows mark’s previous line of sight and nearly faints at the view. 

there, in his backyard, comes God in the form of moon taeil and an army of angels behind him. God is wielding his usual sword, forged over the hottest embers in hell and with the sharpest and strongest steel in all of heaven, earth, hell, and the void. 

jaemin swallows hard and nearly passes out from the sight as God marches right toward jeno who is sitting on the back porch. jaemin doesn’t waste anymore time before running out the backdoor mark left open straight to jeno.

“what’s going on?” jeno’s voice trembles as he watches the sight to be seen. God doesn’t come to the void, let alone lead an army, for just anyone. “why are they here? jaemin? mark? guys what’s going on?” jeno is on the verge of crying and jaemin is so awestruck he can’t even speak.

God is on their property. God is there in the flesh with angel’s jaemin hasn’t seen in so long. back when he lived in heaven, he knew some of the army angels. they were the most disciplined, the most loyal too. he forgot they existed, that they still had lives in heaven even when he didn’t. he was forced to cut ties with everyone. 

to some people, he had committed the worst crime. how love can be a crime, he doesn’t know truthfully, but in some eyes it was and he was shunned, ostracized, and eventually forced to leave as most angel’s are.

“guys?” jeno repeats, panic in his voice running clear as day. “who is that? why are they here?”  
all jaemin can say is, “you.”

it answers jeno’s question but brings a fountain more. “me? what do you mean me? jaemin,” jeno tugs on jaemin’s hand, but the fallen is too encaptured in God’s brightness and holiness.  
when jeno looks to mark, the fallen is the same way. but, jeno can’t focus on the army of people coming toward them. it leaves him with a horrible, horrible anxious feeling. 

“mark?” jeno pinches the skin on the fallen’s left arm, but it does no good.

“shush,” mark mumbles, eyes never leaving the sight before them. “you’ll see here in a few minutes.”

before jeno knows it, they’re feet apart.

“mark lee,” God calls out, holding his sword up and pointing it to the fallen. “come forward.”

mark goes willingly, stepping out of jeno’s grasp straight into the eyes of God. “yes.”

“that is my angel, lee jeno,” God states and mark thinks he hears jeno gasp behind him. “why is he here?”

mark shuts his eyes, letting them close, before he snaps out of the daze. “ _because he’s mine now_.”

the defiance is not a shocker to any of them, maybe the newer angels, but everyone knows about mark’s rebellious streak and his dislike for heaven. 

“yours?” God raises an eyebrow, clearly intrigued in where indulging this conversation will take them.

“yes, mine,” mark’s voice is low and stern, but God isn’t afraid of him. 

“seize him,” God declares and two soldiers go for him, grabbing at him while he resists in their grasp. he manages to punch one on the jaw, but the hit barely makes him flinch. even with jeno screaming and pleading in the background, they wrestle with mark until his hands are behind his back and there’s a sword to his throat.

“i’m sorry,” mark mouths to jaemin. sorry he brought this upon them. sorry he couldn’t do more to protect them. 

“na jaemin,” God demands and jaemin looks at jeno apologetically, mouth in a frown and eyes wet with tears.

“i’m sorry,” jaemin whispers as he steps before God himself.

“am i assume you and mark were in on this together? as usual?” God looks jaemin up and down, obviously judgemental. when jaemin nods, God just scoffs. “you were always a good one, na jaemin, one of the best at that. you could’ve made it as a higher up, but your only flaw was your love for a fallen angel. i just never would have ever thought, you—you, na jaemin, of all people would keep an angel from their heavenly home. i never thought you would fall this far.”

jaemin wants to defend himself, but no words come out. he has always been an angel at heart, he was a person made entirely of love on earth and when he came to heaven, everyone complimented his work as a novice. but, when push came to shove, when he was forced to make a choice, he chose mark lee and he never looked back.

but, here, before God, he’s compelled to remember everything he sacrificed for mark. he remembers all the good and bad, the beautiful and the ugly. everything he left for mark, his heavenly home, his friends and his family. everything he gave up to be with mark lee.  
he looks to mark with tears falling down his face. mark is resisting, trying his best to leave the grasp of his holders and wipe the tears off of jaemin’s face. they’ve been here before. when  
jaemin made a choice hundreds of years ago. when, jaemin had to decide if he loved mark enough. and, he did. and, he still does.

“i’m a fallen because you forced me here,” jaemin whispers, too timid and afraid to look God in the eyes. “you did this to me.”

the words settle in the air and jaemin can’t read the energy. when he looks at God, he can’t read the look on his face.

God gives him one final look before uttering, “take him.”

jaemin doesn’t try to resist like mark, knows there’s no use anymore. he holds his wrists out and the angels bind them together. all he can do now is watch as God approaches jeno. all he can do is listen to the way jeno screams with confusion, with fear, with pain. it breaks jaemin’s heart, makes him cry silently while mark screams in protest. 

God stands in front of jeno and the angel screams and screams, screams like it will do anything, but it doesn’t. there’s no escape, not as jeno tries to run away and he’s caught by two other angels. not as God pulls out his sword and presses the tip to jeno’s jugular.

“lee jeno,” God says and his voice practically rumbles the entire void. “what did they do to you?”

jeno can’t speak and jaemin wants to fall to his knees watching the way the angel’s hands tremble and he stutters on his words. “nothing.”

“do you remember who you are? who i am?” God still has a sword pressed against the skin of his throat.

“uh,” jeno croaks out, “it’s kind of hard to speak when you have your sword to my neck.”

God narrows his eyes. “who are you?”

“lee jeno?” jeno tries and jaemin has to keep from laughing in a situation like this. even with a sword one flick away from killing him, jeno is still jeno. and, jaemin loves him for that. 

“he doesn’t know,” God speaks and the angels around them gasp. “he’s forgotten.”

he walks over to mark and puts his sword straight across mark’s neck. “what did you do to him? what did you do to my angel.”

“‘nothing,” mark spits out, “he had amnesia when we found him.”

God raises an eyebrow at him before nodding in acceptance. “very well. when we return to heaven, all will be revealed.”

God turns back to jeno. “time to go home. take the fallens to ironforge. to heaven we go.”  
<>and, in a flash, jeno is gone. mark and jaemin look at each other before they’re in the hair, held by their mere wrists by two angels, and being flown to their fate. ironforge.

**Author's Note:**

> twt: flirtmarkno


End file.
